digression

noun

di·​gres·​sion dī-ˈgre-shən 

də-

1

: the act or an instance of leaving the main subject in an extended written or verbal expression of thought : the act or an instance of digressing in a discourse or other usually organized literary work

Every place Hamilton, his parents, or his wife visited over a century's time is described at length; everyone he met merits at least a minor biographical digression.

—Willard Sterne Randall

2

archaic : a going aside

digressional

dī-ˈgresh-nəl 

də-

-ə-nᵊl

adjective

digressionary

dī-ˈgre-shə-ˌner-ē 

də-

adjective

Synonyms

• tangent

Examples of digression in a Sentence

the professor's frequent and extended digressions are the stuff of campus legend

Recent Examples on the Web

But in the small areas of freedom McAvoy allows himself outside the main thrust of the familiar rags-to-riches-to-regret arc there are sharp little digressions and darker shadowy corners that suggest there’s more to the film, and to McAvoy as a filmmaker, than initially meets the eye. —Jessica Kiang, Variety, 4 Oct. 2025

There's no explicit in-game reward for almost all of these random digressions, and your fellow cut-scene hikers will frequently explicitly warn you that there's no point in climbing some structure or another. —ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2025

In one of many digressions, Trump complained that the body had rejected his bid two decades ago to renovate its headquarters. —Nik Popli, Time, 23 Sep. 2025

His essays — an array of digressions on meme culture, monetary theory and markets — remain widely read in crypto circles. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see digress

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for digression

• accession
• aggression
• compression
• concession
• confession
• depression
• discretion
• expression
• impression
• obsession
• oppression
• possession